Emphirean Rangers
The Emphirean Rangers '''(also called The Rangers, The Sentinel's Vigilance, or The Emphireans) are a group of knights and warriors who patrol the realm of Ethrand keeping the peace, rooting out bandits, protecting travelers, escorting merchants, or even clearing out monster dens. Their goal is to stay out of the small and individual affairs of the provinces or the cities, but instead to serve the entire realm. They are often misused as city guards, law enforcement, or as grunts in an army. A few distinguishing characteristics of Rangers are their adventure-like clothing, the fact that they are almost always mounted, and their large longswords. History The Vigilance was started when the Dwarvish-Elvish born Men of Ethrand mixed with the Men that came from the east to form the race of Men that live in Ethrand today during the Expansion Age. While the Elves and Dwarves were embroiled in war in the northern regions, the Men of Ethrand thought the realm was uninhabited and they set out to explore it. A group traveled from the east shore of Ethrand, across the middle to the west shore of Ethrand where they built an outpost called Mixwater Watch which became the westernmost point of civilization of Ethrand during that time. One of the explorers, a man named Dearl the Mason, began calling the group, "The Rangers." The name "Emphirean" was added at an unknown time but most likely came from the word "Empyrean." When the war between the Elves and the Dwarves spilled over from the north into the souther regions where Men had begun to colonize, the need for defenders became apparant; Dearl gathered his Rangers and decided to make them an official faction based out of the fort Mixwater Watch. These Rangers (called the First Rangers, or the Old Rangers by modern inhabitants) tasked themselves with protecting the Men of Ethrand from being caught in the middle of the war. Dearl the Mason became the first Lord Master of the Rangers and began the legacy of passing on the mantle of Lord Master to the next ranger in line.The last Lord Master of the First Rangers was Lord Master Tairis who was killed during the Sickness Age and the faction was left broken for many many years until a man by the name of Baer the Gruff, restarted it during the Light Age by becoming the first Lord Master of the Rangers in hundreds of years. These new rangers were sometimes referred to as "The New Vigilance" to distinguish them from the First Rangers. and second Lord Master of the New Vigilance, Galahighel Darkstripe.]] Former Lord Masters '''The First Rangers # Dearl the Mason # Ardaham the Everknight # Laina of Grimhold # Tarnic Duursblood # Tairis Duurblood The New Vigilance # Baer the Gruff # Galahighel Darkstripe Life as a Ranger Becoming a ranger is one of the most deadly, but often the most rewarding, endeavors one could embark upon in their life. Rangers are assigned to a Ranger Stronghold in a paticular region, but more often than not, rangers travel all over that region and beyond with no more than a few moments spent in one place or at the Stronghold. The rangers are made up of soldiers, knights, blacksmiths, farmers, woodcutters, priests, monster hunters, adventurers, and sometimes mages and therefore are very self-sufficient. Ranger Strongholds often mirror a small village with builders, farmers, and blacksmiths servicing the active rangers in the field and whoever comes by to stay there. Each Stronghold is headed by a Serjeant and the dozens of serjeants spread out over the realm are watched over by a small council of four commanders and the Lord Master who sometimes reside at Mixwater Watch, but usually they can are found throughout the realm. Rangers need to be expert trackers, woodsmen, warriors, and survivalists in order to balance the duties of surviving in the wilderness for months on end and the duties that come with protecting the realm. Bandits are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the perils of the wilderness; werewolves, Goblin war-parties, trolls, vampires, spirits, the undead, and even necromancers plague the wilderness of Ethrand. The Vigilance receives tips and hear rumors of these things from the local people and they dispatch immediately to deal with whatever thing happens to be threatening the common folk of that region. When enlisted as an Emphirean, you start as a Greenhorn, but as you progress through the ranks, there are two paths you can take as a Ranger: Man-at-Arms are grunts of the Vigilance who ride and fight on the ground. Paladins spend the bulk of their time ahorse and are some of the most common caravan vanguards seen in Ethrand. While Knights do much riding as all rangers do, Knights of the Vigilance are revered for their versatility; Knights can fight on horseback but they also are the ones that dismount and do the investigating or entering of a structure. Serjeants need to be knowledgeable in both of these fields and leadership as well for they are the ones that head the Ranger Strongholds. There are only ever four commanders at a time and they are voted into command by the rest of the faction. The Lord Master can be voted into position, but any of the rangers in the faction can challenge the current Lord Master if they think their leadership is weak. Category:Isilron